Hope is what I feel when I hold you in my arms
by spiralnebulaM31
Summary: My interpretation of the Outlaw Queen reunion hug in 4x19. Just a little something as an attempt to remind everyone that their reunion was sealed with a warm hug and that we can keep out hope until everything is better.


_AN: This started as a gifset on tumblr and ended up being a mini fanfic, so I thought I'd share it here, too. (Mainly because I can't stand the thought of my stories not being somewhere all together!) _

* * *

Regina is knocking on the door, calling Robin's name. When it doesn't open immediately, she has no more patience left in her and starts pounding on it, calling his name louder. Her pounding on the door matches the pounding of her heart, the sick feeling in her gut becoming more intense with every second that passes.

On the other side of the door, Robin doesn't dare to move. He thinks he just heard her voice calling him, but he's not sure. How can he be sure when he's been dreaming of her voice, her touch, her smile every night and he woke up to realize it was all a dream? The guilt he's been feeling strikes through his mind again. He's been trying to move on with Marian -she's just told him she's pregnant- and he still hasn't managed to get Regina out of his mind, out of his soul, no matter how badly he's wanted it. But did he really want it? Did he really want to forget her? The pounding on the door gets louder, but Robin has almost gotten used to loud noises by now. It's that voice that has his heart on his throat and his body unable to move. No, his imagination won't play that game this time. In a sudden urge to prove to himself that it can't really be her and with a frown on his face, he opens the door.

His expression softens when he sees is her beautiful face. But is she real? He watches her sigh audibly in relief and, instinctively, he breathes her name in wonder. He can't help the hope that flushes into him just by realizing she's standing right there in the hallway.

Regina notices it and isn't certain whether the same emotion is mirrored in her face. Seconds ago the only thing she could feel was an immense amount of relief washing through her at the sight of him, alive and finally close to her again. She notices this tiny fraction of hope on his expression and she knows it's the first fraction that has returned after the nine weeks they've been apart. It's the hope he had lost when their hands separated for the last time. She wants to give it all back to him, the hope he's always had for her, the faith that what they once had wouldn't be destroyed eventually. She automatically opens her arms, letting him know that she's waiting for his move.

He doesn't give it a second thought before he takes a step forward and hugs her. His arms envelope her and circle her back, holding her tightly, while hers slide around her neck. He can feel her heartbeat and it dawns on him how real she is. She isn't a dream, she isn't a vision. She's the woman he loves with all his heart, the one he believed he would never see again. He catches a glimpse of Emma watching them with a hint of a smile before he closes his eyes and just _feels_.

Regina is finally holding her love in her arms. She wonders why she let all that time pass without running out of Storybrooke to find him. She could have gone there three weeks ago and deep down she knows that wasn't possible, because there were other things to deal with in Storybrooke, but her mind is filled with _him _and the smell of forest that somehow still lingers around him. It makes her intoxicated and nothing else exists except him and their moments; those precious moments that are just memories hidden in her heart, in both their hearts. She fights to clear her head, to remember why she went to find him, but she has to tell him first.

"I missed you." He feels her breathing quickly, her voice breaking while she's holding on to him like she's afraid he's going to go away again. Her cheek is pressed to his neck and he can feel the heat radiating from her body. Those three words are like an arrow straight through his heart, just like the feeling he got first time their eyes locked. The part that was missing from him all those weeks is there now, in his arms. How can he tell her what has happened? How can he hurt her again when despite of everything, he's missed her terribly? The familiar scent of her shampoo -somehow the same in every realm- and her hand running across his shoulder make his thoughts blurry and all he wants is to keep holding knows it's wrong, he knows they're not together anymore, but how can such intense emotions not be right? How can life be so cruel and separate two connected souls?

Robin is aware that once he lets her out of his embrace, he'll see the tears that he's sure have already formed in her eyes. His heart breaks for her and for their love and they only have a few moments, but he's going to cherish the feeling of her so close to him.

Regina feels him finally say "And I, you" in her hair and she doesn't know how much time has passed; it might have been seconds, it might have been an hour. She knows it has to end. She knows she has to tell him the truth, her mind is screaming at her. But her heart doesn't let her break away. _Just one more second_, one more moment of feeling like she's where she belongs.

Because they both know that being in each other's arms is what gives them hope at that moment.

And they also know that when the moment is gone, everything will fall apart.


End file.
